I Badly Wanted This 2020s Stephen King Remake To Succeed, But Everything Went Wrong

Stephen King movies are often big hits, but a 2020s remake of one of his greatest books was a shocking failure and nearly everything went wrong. Only a few years after his debut novel arrived in 1974, Stephen King became a household name thanks to a blockbuster adaptation of Carrie. Hollywood quickly took notice of the wordsmith from Maine, and a myriad of movies and shows were adapted from King’s abundant bibliography. Known for his simple-but-effective storylines and unique characters, the “King of Horror” earned that title through the sheer volume of his output in his five-decade-long career.

King has been around for so long that some of his books have been adapted and re-adapted on several occasions. King’s best books still inspire filmmakers, and talented directors have been able to find new and interesting angles from his classic novels. However, not all of King’s adaptations have been top-notch, and even excellent works have been butchered by utterly awful movies and TV shows. A recent Stephen King remake seemed like an easy win, but the finished product not only missed the mark when adapting the book, but failed to even deliver a decent film.

The 2024 ‘Salem’s Lot Remake Was Plagued By Production Issues

Warner Brothers Undercut The Remake At Every Turn

The heroes of Salem's Lot looking up at the Marsten House from afar

The remake was initially slated to arrive in late 2022, but various delays kept the film from premiering until over two years later in 2024.

A modern remake of ‘Salem’s Lot seemed like a no-brainer, and the sweeping vampire novel is certainly one of King’s best books. Though it was adapted into an excellent TV movie in 1979, and a less-than-stellar 2004 miniseries, there was still a lot left to be gained from a new version of the creepy novel. However, the movie got off to a bad start, and it never really recovered. The remake was initially slated to arrive in late 2022, but various delays kept the film from premiering until over two years later in 2024.

Tobe Hooper directed the 1979 TV movie.

Production wrapped on schedule, but its post-production period kept growing longer and longer until there were legitimate fears that the movie had been scrapped by Warner Bros. The studio had notoriously junked several completed feature films, like Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme, and the Stephen King adaptation seemed next on the chopping block. Eventually, the author himself got in on the conversation, and a series of social media posts may have spurred Warner Bros. to begin acting on the long-gestating project. It was given a release date, but it would premiere on Max instead of in theaters as originally planned.

According to director Gary Dauberman, ‘Salem’s Lot had a much longer running-time, and the initial cut was around three hours in length. Though it’s not unusual for a film to be trimmed down throughout post-production, the final product was not quite two hours long. This means that a considerable amount of the story was cut, and it can be seen in the film. It’s unclear how much was a creative decision, but it can be assumed that some of the changes were studio-mandated. Stephen King’s original novel is a sprawling story, and that makes a movie an unwieldy proposition.

The ‘Salem’s Lot adaptations include:

Movie Or Series	Release Year	Rotten Tomatoes Score
‘Salem’s Lot	1979	89%
Return to ‘Salem’s Lot	1987	22%
‘Salem’s Lot	2004	69%
‘Salem’s Lot	2024	46%

The Remake Of Salem’s Lot Still Misunderstood The Assignment

Even With Ideal Conditions, The Remake Still Wouldn’t Have Worked

There’s no denying that ‘Salem’s Lot was given the worst possible release, but that doesn’t excuse many of the problems with the final product. As other adaptations of the book have shown, a decent story can be culled from the much longer novel. Trimming is absolutely necessary when adapting a Stephen King book, but the 2024 version completely misunderstands what makes the novel so compelling. ‘Salem’s Lot should have been a streamlined version of the book, yet it still manages to drag. However, it doesn’t have a slow-burn pace either, so it mostly feels odd and disjointed.

Lewis Pullman as Ben Mears & Makenzie Leigh as Susan Norton from Salem's Lot 2024

8 Ways I’d Fix The Disappointing New Stephen King Movie

‘Salem’s Lot is undoubtedly not the movie that Gary Dauberman set out to make & there are a few things I’d fix to make it a much better movie overall.

The book is about an ancient vampire who corrupts a small town with his evil, but it is also a symbolic representation of the death of the small town in the mid-’70s. King’s novels can be taken at face value, but there is often more to the story just below the surface. The 2024 remake is all surface, and tosses out any of the deeper meaning in the process. Ben Mears is a totally unmotivated hero, and he isn’t trying to conquer his own fears because that subplot about the Marsten house was completely cut out.

The brooding mystery of Kurt Barlow is also completely stripped away, and he just shows up like a cliche movie monster to terrorize the protagonists with little impetus besides being a spooky villain. The key to ‘Salem’s Lot is showing the slow and gradual decline of the town, as the vampire’s influence destroys its spirit. Instead, any suspense is traded in for cheesy shock value, and all of Stephen King‘s trademarks are thrown out. ‘Salem’s Lot was held back by a studio that wasn’t particularly interested in it, but that doesn’t excuse the poor script and baffling execution.